Or maybe not-so-old-skool, but still... 2000 is like 7 years ago.   Below is the video of the Nike Freestyle commercial from 2000 that featured NBA ballers like Vince Carter, Lamar Odom, Baron Davis, and most notably Jason "White Chocolate" Williams, along with streetball legends like Arnold "A-Train" Bernard (the dude at the beginning that sets the commercial off) and  Luis "Trickz" Dasilva (the Puerto Rican cat that tosses the ball and catches it with his left while doing his impression of Rodin's The Thinker with his right).  Oh, and of course, the star - The Future. 

Malloy "The Future" Nesmith is still my favorite street baller of all time.  Even more so than Shammgod, who isn't really a streetballer, as he did make it to the NBA briefly.   The Future was the star of "On Hallowed Ground", a special documentary for TBS on Rucker Park uptown, the best place to watch a street ball game in the city.  I've been there on more than a few occasions (I use to go back in the day to watch The Entertainer's Classic, before it became super-mainstream).  The Future's moves were always the most incredible thing you could see, and proof that there are things greater than the dunk in basketball - like carving your man up with some never-before-seen moves.  Crowds would go nuts when he would start dancing around a perplexed and broken-down defender.

Marlo Egleston was the woman dribbling two basketballs at once; she scored over 2,000 points during her four year career at George Washington.

Also participating in the commercial was Ed "Booger" Smith, star of "Soul In The Hole".

"Yo yo yo whassup, where my team at?..."  The documentary was good, the title track of the soundtrack was better.  Featuring the "Wu All-Stars" - basically Ghost Face (still the scrub of the Wu at the time, before the hipsters fell in love with his style), some other minor hang-ons (Shyheim the Rugged Child being the most established) and a surprisingly decent Blue Raspberry-wannabe named "Tekitha" singing the hook.  It was a great joint, especially since the lyrics kept with the basketball theme:

"We be a team, cause everyone plays a part/ain't no chucking..."

"Shootin bricks or sellin bricks, we still scramblin
with offense and defense, I use the bassline
to score points frequent."

"Yo, yo yo check the mic so I can slam without a crossover
Wack jump shot punk rock players get tossed over
by the bleachers, I'm bringin pressure like a power foward
You try to walk and get away with it the ref saw it
Your startin five couldn't get verbal live
I penetrate across the lane, all reasons mines
Percentage from the field is real, we hard boilin
Swish shot in your face, your coach is callin
for a timeout, I bomb your rhyme, with a free throw
Fast break through the legs crush your rookie ego
You steppin out of bounds son, now how that sound Dunn
I thought we was playin ball, don't start at round one"

And my favorite, from Shyheim:

"Suicide drills get your calves built
Crossovers ill, have you thinkin water split
With the 2-3 zone we smoke em, like bones"

Word up.  Suicide drills do get your calves built.   And I never would have thought to make the connection between a 2-3 zone and smoking bones in the staircases.  You better believe I'm going to do a post sometime next season that features at least 10 of the lines above.  "Fast break through your legs crush your rookie ego" sounds perfect for Asian Jesus, a.k.a. Ji Yianlian.  "Percentage from the field is real" seems perfect for Black Zeus (Greg Oden).

Finally:  Also appearing in the Nike commercial was Robert "Bobbito" Garcia.  You might know him from his old radio show (The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito show), or from halftime of Knicks games on the MSG network (The Hot Minute).  In case you are wondering why he's on at halftime, he is also a former street baller.   He has a magazine entitled Bounce that covers street balling in NYC.

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